Thirty minutes after their yelling match, Ryan had finally managed to get Sharpay out of the bathroom and into the living room. Their parents weren't helping by insisting on taking photos. Ryan kept looking at his watch every time his sister called for a new round of photos. Until finally, he remarked, "Shar, the dance starts in ten minutes, Zeke will be waiting." These were the magic words and she practically flew out the door, grabbing her hot pink clutch and convertible keys.
"COME ON RY!" Sharpay screamed, revving the engine. Sighing, he picked up the black mask off the coffee table and gave his parents a quick hug goodbye.
Once the three girls had arrived at the dance, Kelsi began to have second thoughts about coming in the first place.
"I can't do this!" she whispered pitifully.
"You can, and you will." Gabbie stated.
"Now hand over the jacket," Taylor ordered, holding out her hand, "It's time Kelsi." Slowly, Kelsi removed the jacket and unwillingly handed it over.
"We're going to meet up with the guys," Gabriella explained, her eyes twinkling, "Find us in about five minutes and thenwe'll see if they can recognize their play-maker."
"How will I find you?" Kelsi asked, "Practically the entire school is here!"
"Chad's hair, how else?" Taylor smiled, "You can't miss him." She grabbed Gabbie's arm and they were gone.
Sighing, she contented herself with pacing the floor. Kelsi glanced at the clock on the wall, noticing that five minutes had passed. The shy pianist supposed she could have always ran, but she made a promise and intended on keeping it. Kelsi slipped her mask back into place, taking care that the ribbon was tied securely. Her heart started beating faster as she approached the entrance little by little.
Taking a final deep breath, Kelsi stepped out from behind the archway. The entire room took notice of her arrival and she could feel hundreds of eyes searching her face. The girl's eyes fell on a blonde, dressed in an eye-popping pink dress; she sized Kelsi up in two seconds flat and her eyes flickered with, dare she say it, jealousy? The drama queen clearly didn't recognize her at all, Sharpay Evans wouldn't be caught dead being jealous of her pianist.
Feeling her cheeks burning red, Kelsi quickly made my way towards Taylor and Gabriella, spotting them next to a boy with wild, curly hair.
"Hi Gabbie, Taylor," she greeted them, carefully disguising her voice.
"Now who's this?" Chad joked, "Taylor, why haven't you and Gabriella introduced us to this lovely lady?"
"Because you aren't supposed to know who anyone is," Gabbie teased, "It's a masked ball."
"Well then why do you know who we are, we know who you are, and you know who she is?" Troy asked, utterly bewildered.
"We know who you are and you know who we are because you're our dates and we couldn't miss Chad's hair if we tried," Taylor smirked, but then gestured to the 'mystery girl', "We know who she is because we know her extremely well and helped her get ready."
"You do actually go to East High right?" Troy questioned.
"Of course I do, Hoops-man," Kelsi responded slyly, hoping they would catch on,
"That's what our friend Kelsi Nielsen calls me," Troy wondered aloud, "Do you know her?"
"Of course, she's one of my best friends," she hinted, "We're practically the same person."
"Cool, how come we never see you around?" Chad responded, clueless and still completely unaware that 'mystery girl' was actually his resident 'small person.' Gabriella glanced over at Kelsi and winked with a look that said, "I told you so."
"Boys are so stupid sometimes," Kelsi rolled her eyes, "I guess that's why they're not girls…."
What she didn't know was the minute she entered the room, Ryan couldn't take his eyes off of her, the beautiful girl in the white dress. Her eyes were emerald green and seemed to sparkle in the light. He had no idea who she was, but something told Ryan that she wasn't like all the other girls, she was different. From what he could tell, Sharpay was so jealous, she was practically green. Ryan spotted her talking to Chad and Troy, along with two other girls who he assumed were Gabriella and Taylor. For almost half an hour, Ryan tried to pluck up the courage to ask her for a dance. Kelsi glanced around the room and her eyes stopped on him for a split second, but then darted away.
"Is she looking for someone?" Ryan thought to himself.
Kelsi continued trying to clue the boys in, with absolutely no success. Her eyes wandered the room, stopping on a boy with sparkling blue eyes.
"No, it couldn't be," she convinced herself, "Sharpay would have had him wearing pink or something. Besides, he isn't wearing a hat."
